Dedicated Curbside/Offset Bus Lanes

Dedicated bus lanes are typically applied on major routes with frequent headways (10 minutes at peak) or where traffic congestion may significantly affect reliability. As on-time performance degrades, consider more aggressive treatments to speed transit service. Agencies may set ridership or service standard benchmarks for transitioning bus service to a transit-only facility.1

Lanes may be located immediately at the curb or in an offset configuration, replacing the rightmost travel lane on a street where parking is permitted.

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Curbside

Offset

Bus lanes may have complementary effects with other bus rapid transit elements, such as off-board fare payment and transit signal priority.

Benefits & Considerations

Bus lanes reduce delays due to traffic congestion and help raise the visibility of the high-quality service.

Curbside and offset bus lanes are subject to encroachment due to double-parking, deliveries, or taxicabs. Strict enforcement is necessary to maintain their use and integrity.2

Critical

1
BUS ONLY pavement markings should be applied to emphasize the lane and to deter drivers from using it (MUTCD 3D-01).

A solid single white line conveys that crossing into the bus lane is discouraged, whereas a double solid white line means that encroachment is legally prohibited. (MUTCD 3B.04)

Recommended

Bus lane width should be determined based on the available street space and the competing needs of bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists. The minimum width of a curbside bus lane is 11 feet. The minimum width of an offset bus lane is 10 feet.

Transit signal priority should be implemented wherever feasible to reduce transit delays due to traffic signals. Shorter signal cycles also process movements more efficiently and maximize the usefulness of the transit signal priority system.

Red colored paint should be applied to emphasize the lane and to deter drivers from using it. Red paint has higher installation and maintenance costs, but has been shown to deter both unauthorized driving and parking in the bus lane.3

The New York City Department of Transportation, in partnership with New York City Transit (NYCT), the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and City Council members, successfully lobbied the state for legislation allowing installation of bus lane enforcement cameras as part of the new Select Bus Service (SBS), which has red-painted bus only lanes. The SBS system uses two types of cameras. Fixed video cameras were installed on two routes beginning in November 2010. NYC DOT watches the footage and reports violations. Currently, NYCT is piloting cameras mounted on buses that take photos. Since SBS vehicles run on very short headways of 3–4 minutes, thus if a vehicle shows up on the two consecutive vehicles’ cameras, a violation is recorded.